


Die Another Day

by Waterfall



Category: Doctor Who, Heroes - Fandom, Torchwood
Genre: Community: crossovers100, Crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-04-14
Updated: 2008-04-14
Packaged: 2017-10-11 18:28:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/115567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waterfall/pseuds/Waterfall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes you don't find what you're looking for, but rather what you need.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Die Another Day

**Author's Note:**

> **Title:** Die Another Day  
>  **Fandom:** Doctor Who/Heroes  
>  **Characters:** Captain Jack Harkness and Claire Bennet  
>  **Word count:** 697  
>  **Rating:** PG  
>  **Prompt:** #002 – Middles (cause it's sort of in medias res)  
>  **My crossovers 100 LJ table:** [Can be found here](http://waterfall8484.livejournal.com/99356.html).  
>  **Disclaimer:** The characters and locations portrayed here are not mine. Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and Heroes belongs to NBC and Tim Kring. This is a fan authored work and no profit is being made. Please do not archive this story without my permission.  
>  **Author's Notes:** For ingvild, since it's her birthday today. :~) It's set after TW season 2 and Heroes season 2, but no real spoilers anywhere, I think. There may be tendencies to purple prose at one point, so input would be appreciated, as this is unbetaed.

In what remained of the building, now silent after a loud and spectacular collapse, there was a sudden gasp. A teenaged girl, recently dead, suddenly sat up and looked around with a wild and slightly uncontrolled movement.  
"Damn," she exclaimed sadly as she spotted the obviously dead man beside her, his head twisted around like on an abused Barbie doll. "Why didn't you get out of the way when I told you to?"  
Grimacing, she pulled a piece of steel girder from her midsection, only to drop it in surprise as she heard a gasping breath from the corpse beside her. The dead man opened his eyes and flailed madly.  
"Gaah!"  
"Aaah!"  
At the sound of her scream he sat up and looked at her.  
"You! You're bloody lucky, do you know that?"  
She broke off her fascinated stare, shaking her head.  
"Luck's got nothing to do with it, as you should know."  
"And what's that supposed to –"  
He broke off as she pulled another piece of steel out of her left leg, the bone settling into its original position with an audible snap. The look on his face made her laugh out loud.  
"Thought you were the only one, did you? I swear, we need some kind of secret sign or something…"  
Shaking his head, he scrabbled for something on the ground.  
"Hang on – you're an alien?"  
"Alien?" She laughed again. "Don't be silly. I can just heal, like you."  
"What do you mean? I can't heal like that!" He nodded towards her leg, looking genuinely perplexed.  
"But you were dead, I saw you!"  
"Trick of the light."  
"Yeah, right."

They got to their feet, both of them wobbling unsteadily. Appearing to stumble, the man grabbed hold of the young woman, who froze in surprise.  
"Now," he grinned. "Let's try that again. You may heal, but a gunshot wound to the stomach will still hurt like hell. Trust me, I know."  
"You've got a gun?" The frown she gave him made his grin widen. "Are you the police?"  
"Of a sort."  
"Oh, that's right." Her laugh was short and brittle. "You're the _alien_ police. Like X-Files, yeah? Well, I'm not an alien."  
"No human can heal like that."  
Despite his grin there was something hard and cold in the man's eyes, as if he'd seen too much, done too much in his life. Suddenly tired of the whole situation, the girl sighed, her shoulders slumping.  
"Well, I can. Look, shoot me if you like, I don't care. Just tell me…" She trailed off, her expression frighteningly easy to read as she debated with herself. Her whole being was shouting out her sadness and loneliness to those who would care enough to look, and yet her voice was steady and determined as she went on. "…how do you do it? Live, I mean, when everyone else grow old and die?"  
For a moment there was complete silence, only broken by the sound of the rubble still settling around them. Then the man lowered his gun.  
"Oh, sweetheart, you really are human, aren't you?" She nodded. "I wish I could help you, but it's just… one day at the time, I'm afraid."  
"Yeah," she sighed. "I thought you'd say that."

Having established that they were both human, though immortal, there didn't seem to be much more to say. They made their way towards the exit, still wobbling slightly, both of them having decided – against very long odds – to trust the other. Outside they were greeted by a gust of fresh air and a relieved team of three who flocked around the man, called him 'Jack' and yelled at him for going in alone. He fended them off with the expertise of one who'd done the same many times before, and turned to the girl with a smile she thought looked much more genuine than his earlier attempts.  
"So, kid, what brings such a pretty American all the way to Cardiff?"  
And even after all she'd been though, Claire decided to tell him. Maybe, slim though the chance might be, she had finally found someone who could help them save the world?  
"Well, there's this man called Sylar…"


End file.
